The episode’s panel will review Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral, and Treatment (SBIRT) elements. They will look at it how it has and can continue to be incorporated into primary health care settings to screen for mental and/or substance use disorders and help reduce overprescribing of medications. In addition, a preview of the collaboration between SAMHSA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will give health care professionals who prescribe opioids a framework for safer prescribing.

In 2013, almost 8% of Americans aged 12 or older needed treatment for a substance use disorder but didn’t get it. This episode will examine ways to reduce the number of untreated individuals through accurate and efficient screening and assessment in primary care settings. These procedures could also be a crucial point in identifying co-occurring disorders.

One such procedure is Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT). This is an evidence-based practice that can be used to identify mental and/or substance use disorders and direct patients to both appropriate care levels and specialty facilities. For example, SBIRT can help primary care practitioners develop questions to find out if a prescription is truly necessary for a patient. Making SBIRT a standard practice in primary care settings could help reduce the burden on other social service and criminal justice settings by identifying a potential mental health illness in an at-risk patient.

In addition, screening for infectious diseases should be a protocol in the primary care setting. IV drug users have high rates of HIV, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and antibiotic-resistant infections.

The episode’s panel reviews SBIRT’s elements. They look at how it has and can continue to be incorporated into primary health care settings to screen for mental and/or substance use disorders and help reduce overprescribing of medications. In addition, a preview of the collaboration between SAMHSA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that focuses on guidelines gives health care professionals who prescribe opioids a framework for safer prescribing.

Trauma’s effects often place a heavy burden on individuals, families, and communities. Trauma can result from a single incident, such as a car crash, or from chronic, emotional, and physical trauma such as bullying or sexual abuse.

Past trauma can lead to mental and emotional states that hurt a person’s recovery. This is supported by the findings of the landmark Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. The study found a direct link between childhood trauma and adult onset of chronic disease as well as mental and/or substance use disorders.

For example, an individual can develop a substance use disorder to manage the distress of trauma’s effects and traumatic stress symptoms. In turn, an individual’s substance use disorders can be a risk factor for the onset of trauma, such as physical or sexual assault and accidents, as a result of risky behavior.

This episode explores the three “Es” of trauma: Event(s), Experience of Event(s), and Effect. It also emphasizes the fulfilling path to resiliency that helps people tap into their strengths.

This episode examines the causes of homelessness for people with mental and/or substance use disorders. Panelists discuss various evidence-based models that address homelessness. They also highlight current programs that are successful at reducing these conditions and that are providing health, screenings, and wellness resources.

People experiencing homelessness can have great difficulty overcoming or managing mental and/or substance use disorders. Of the approximately 610,000 people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2013, 1 in 5 had a serious mental illness. Slightly more than 1 in 5 had a chronic substance use disorder.

This episode examines the causes of homelessness for people with mental and/or substance use disorders. Panelists discuss various evidence-based models that address homelessness. They also highlight current programs that are successful at reducing these conditions and that are providing health, screenings, and wellness resources.

The discussion includes an overview of housing options, from emergency shelters to transitional housing. In addition, this episode gives perspectives from families affected by loved ones with a mental and/or substance use disorder who experienced homelessness and their path to stable, supportive housing.

This episode looks at the use of new technologies that help people track their physical, mental, and emotional health.

Innovations in health information technology and telemedicine have expanded the delivery of treatment and recovery services. New online tools for treatment and recovery such as “virtual” communities, telemedicine portals, and “virtual” counselors offer individuals tailored services.

The episode reviews SAMHSA’s new mobile applications and interactive tools. These include an anti-bullying app, the suicide prevention phone line, and innovative mobile resources to help prevent underage drinking.

This episode also examines new self-directed tools for wellness, including fitness tracking devices, apps that encourage exercise and reduced calorie intake, and programs that allow patients to self-monitor their own mental health. Additionally, the episode discusses tools to help individuals access recovery and support networks through their mobile phones.

Patients should be encouraged to talk to their provider about how the tools benefit their health and wellness. The episode’s panel discusses how patients and health care professionals alike can learn about health information technologies designed to prevent substance use, promote early intervention, and provide methods for healthy lifestyle behaviors and overall wellness—all essential components of a successful recovery journey.

The episode reviews SAMHSA’s new mobile applications and interactive tools. These include an anti-bullying app, the suicide prevention phone line, and innovative mobile resources to help prevent underage drinking. The full episode airs September 2, 2015.

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Recovery Month promotes the societal benefits of prevention, treatment, and recovery for mental and substance use disorders, celebrates people in recovery, lauds the contributions of treatment and service providers, and promotes the message that recovery in all its forms is possible. Recovery Month spreads the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, that prevention works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover.